9.4 /10 1 Votes
4.7/5 Barnes & Noble Country United States Publisher Dial Media type Print Originally published January 2015 Genre Historical Fiction Awards John Newbery Medal | 4.4/5 Goodreads Language English Publication date 2015 - Pages 316 Page count 316 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nominations Goodreads Choice Awards Best Middle Grade & Children's Similar Kimberly Brubaker Bradley books, John Newbery Medal winners, Historical Fiction books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The War that Saved My Life, written by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, is a 2015 children’s middle grade historical book published by Dial Books for Young Readers. The War that Saved My Life was a Newbery Honor Book in 2016 and was Bradley’s first Newbery Honor Book.
Contents
Plot
Ada is a ten-year-old girl who has never left her apartment in London. Her abusive mother is too embarrassed to let her go outside because of her twisted foot. Ada is forced to spend her days inside a one-bedroom apartment with only a window that lets her see the outside world. She spends her entire life crawling and can barely stand up. She cooks and takes care of her little six-year-old brother Jamie.
The year is 1939 and World War II has started. The government begins to ship out children from London to escape from the war, sending them to the countryside. Ada's mother does not know if she will send Jamie but does not want to send Ada. She tells Ada that nobody will want to take care of her, and refuses to send her away. Ada has spent all summer teaching herself how to walk and decides to leave with Jamie without their mother knowing.
When they arrive at the countryside, nobody wants Ada and Jamie, so they are sent to live with a woman named Susan Smith. Susan lives alone in a two-floor house and makes it very clear that she does not want to or think she is fitted to take care of kids. Ada's experience in the countryside is very different from her life in London. She is able to go outside, learn new things and be taken care of, in contrast to her life in London where she was abused physically and mentally. These two different experiences created an inner conflict inside her that does not let her appreciate everything that Susan is doing for her. In the countryside, Ada teaches herself to ride a pony, and learns how to read and write.
After months of Susan trying to contact Ada's mother, for permission to operate on Ada's foot, Mam appears to take the children away. She brings them back to London, where she has moved to a new apartment, and continues abusing Ada and refusing to let her outside; she is not interested in taking care of her or Jamie and only moved them back because it was going to be cheaper for her. Ada confronts her mother and finds a way for her and Jamie to move in permanently with Susan.
Main Characters
Secondary Characters
Awards and Nominations
Reception
The War That Saved My Life received very good reviews. The Horn Book Magazine claims "This is a feel-good story, but an earned one". School Library Journal talks about the emotional connection readers will have "Readers will ache for her as she misreads cues and pushes Susan away, even though she yearns to be enfolded in a hug. There is much to like here-Ada's engaging voice, the vivid setting, the humor, the heartbreak, but most of all the tenacious will to survive exhibited by Ada and the villagers who grow to love and accept her". Thom Barthelmess in The Horn Book Magazine stated "Bradley’s novel is exceptional for the characters’ deep humanity".